


One and One—are One

by middlemarch



Category: Mercy Street (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Doctors & Physicians, Gen, Humor, Male-Female Friendship, Paperwork
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-27
Updated: 2016-12-27
Packaged: 2018-09-12 12:53:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9072532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/middlemarch/pseuds/middlemarch
Summary: It had been Unity-Carlyle Hospital until last year when they decided a hyphenated "unity" undercut the message and the last of the original board members gave in.





	

“Welcome to Unity,” the man said; he was a tall African-American in blue scrubs and a white coat and she racked her brain to remember his name, something that had reminded her of Harry Potter...

“Diggs, Sam Diggs. I’m the geri specialist, but I don’t expect you to remember any of that,” he added and Mary tried to set the pile of binders down gracefully on the table but it was impossible and they skidded all over the formica surface like drunken ice hockey players. Sam Diggs swiftly picked up his coffee cup before any disaster could ensue and Mary smiled weakly, apologetically.

“Sorry, it’s, they’re a lot. I never imagined this part of medicine when I was a little girl,” she said. Then it had been all heroic surgeries and grateful patients, laboratory discoveries and bringing someone back from the brink of death with the medicine she had concocted, her white coat flapping behind her like a cape or an angel’s wings. There were still moments like that, if not quite so primary-colored, but there was so much of _this_ —paperwork and HR, privacy policies and retirement plans, sitting for her formal staff portrait and being given a dozen keys, a keycard, and a series of numbers for every login imaginable, a lanyard, a clipboard, a parking sticker, all emblazoned with _**Unity!**_

“Yeah, McBurney is kind of a martinet. Don’t quote me on that, but I mean, we all know it. And he’s really into team-building exercises,” Sam said, nodding towards the navy blue tee-shirt with the Unity logo and the full-color flyer on the ropes course. “He took some class when he was getting his MBA and he can’t let it go.”

“It did seem like he was a little intense on the whole ‘Unity means we are one,’ theme,” she laughed, relieved that she hadn’t just signed a deal with the devil and his many minions.

“Jed, Jed Foster, he has a whole rant about that. We’re all scheduled for the ropes course this weekend, in honor of your appointment, so I’m sure you’ll get a chance to hear it,” Sam said. Dr. Foster had greeted her only briefly; she remembered him as dark-eyed, bearded, impatient to be away and not concerned with disguising it.

“McBurney doesn’t mind it?” she asked. She hadn’t thought him the kind to tolerate any perceived insubordination. He looked the type to get white with fury, all clenched jaw and contained obscenity.

“Oh, he hates it but he can’t fire Foster. Jed’s got a ton of grant money, all the bells and whistles degree-wise, and a bunch of better-known programs have already tried to poach him. Mayo was sniffing around a few months ago and I think maybe Yale. He’s sort of a maverick, Jed is.”

“But not you, huh?” Mary said. She liked Sam already, his easy tone, his willingness to let the newbie in on all the dirt, and the confidence that meant he didn’t have to announce his own credentials like that other one with the gingery goatee, Bryan or something, who’d held her hand too long at the meet-and-greet with the hospital board while singing his own praises. She’d thought he might try to kiss her knuckles and sweep a bow before he let go and had wiped her hand on her Ann Taylor suit pants as surreptitiously as she could.

“No, I know to mind my p’s and q’s. I just got here about 18 months ago and I’d like to stay but McBurney takes a long time to trust anyone, so I’m a little more circumspect than the rest of them.” He didn’t point out that he was the only African-American on the staff and she was only the second woman hired, but she knew she couldn’t afford to be the maverick Jed Foster was reported to be and likely, neither could Sam.

“Well, I appreciate the insider scoop. You never know what a place is really going to be like until you start working there, once the contract is signed,” she said. “But I’m feeling a little more reassured now.”

“That’s good. It’s the Unity way, after all,” he winked. His pager beeped and he glanced at it. “Gotta run, Mrs. Brannan keeps thinking she can tap dance and convincing the nurses to let her show them a few steps. I don’t think my unit had handle 42nd Street.”

“Good luck—or should I say, break a leg?” she called and he grinned back. She sat down and began turning the pages of the first binder, the biggest one, and decided she’d get a coffee when she finished. It was free at least—a “Unity perk” McBurney had delighted in telling her about, explaining the pun to death. She had nodded and thought _Free coffee, Mary, free coffee_. By Wednesday, she could expect to see patients and get to work and over the weekend, she had the chance to see what a maverick looked like in a safety harness and a new friend to share a smile with.

**Author's Note:**

> Today's holiday prompt was "unity" for the first day of Kwanzaa and I played around with it, subbing it for Mercy in the hospital's name, since it is a popular name for hospitals (go check the internet if you don't believe me!) I'm a definite fan of Mary and Samuel's friendship and it seems like Season 2 will give us more in that department. This was just a small vignette intended to amuse...
> 
> The title is from Emily Dickinson.


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